Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present Coalescence: A Benefit Art Exhibition.Through this exhibition Kehler Liddell Gallery is able to support two non-profit organizations: The Soroptimist Society and the Klingberg Family Centers. The benefit exhibition presents the work of Belgian painter and Soroptimist, Nicole Van Axx and local sculptor Susan Clinard. Both non-profit beneficiaries have missions that help improve the lives of women and children.

The Soroptimist Society is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls. The mission of the Klingberg Family Centers is to provide therapeutic treatment for children and families who have been traumatized by abuse and neglect.

Coalescence will feature nature-inspired watercolors by Belgian

artist Nicole van Axx and other artwork by local artists including Kehler Liddell sculptor, Susan Clinard.

The exhibit will culminate in a Closing Reception event on Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. This event will provide an entertaining evening of art, live music, food and wine and will offer collectors a final opportunity to purchase extraordinary art at a range of affordable prices while supporting the efforts of the two nonprofit groups in their missions to help women, children and families in need.

This very special, one-night-only event features an exciting array of artwork inspired by nature and women's circumstances. In addition to an exhibit of an eclectically curated mix of artwork, guests will be entertained by the musical beat of the Raymond Hill School African Drumming Troupe and enjoy delicious offerings of Lena's Café and our wine bar. This event is a wonderful opportunity for both beginning and seasoned collectors to purchase beautiful and inspired artwork and for members of the community to support the work of these community service organizations. Admission is $35 per person for the Closing Reception event; viewing/cocktail hour will begin at 4 p.m.

Hygienic Art XXXI starts this weekend!

(Hanging for the show starts 8 a.m. Saturday morning. Self-express yourself: One Piece Per Artist, No Judge, No Jury, No Fees, No Censorship! Show up and show!)

Press release

Jan. 30, 2010 at the Hygienic Galleries in New London, Connecticut. Modeled after the Salon des Indépendants held annually in Paris since 1884, New London's outsider art event is open to all artists. The rules are simple: one piece per artist; no judge, no jury, no fees, no censorship.

The Salon des Indépendants movement was created by French Impressionists who were not accepted into the established Salon of the late 19th Century. To protest the rigid arts establishment, these artists exhibited their works in cafés in the seamy sections of Paris. This revolutionary movement included notable characters such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Munch, Rousseau, Cézanne, Modigliani among others. The intent of the artists (and that of Hygienic Art) was to create an artistic event without jury or reward so that all forms of expression and trends in the art of the moment would have a chance to be presented to the public without restriction.

In that spirit, all artists are welcome to submit one piece of their work for the public's consideration. Sign-in and hanging begins on Sat., January 30 at 8 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. The exhibition opens to the public at 8 p.m. that night. The show runs through Sat., Feb. 13. Art pick-up is on Sun., Feb. 14, beginning at Noon.

The exhibition is well known for its diverse original art ranging from the sublime to the outrageous. Over its 30 year history, the annual art extravaganza has grown from an anti-establishment visual art show to an anti-establishment multi-media art event including film making, performance art as well as a young artists' show and musical events. Call (860) 444-6855 for more info.

A devotional tribute to memory, culture, people and place, the Orchard Street Shul Cultural Heritage Artists Project at John Slade Ely House closes this coming weekend. With photography, sculpture, installation art, painting and digital media, it is a thought-provoking eye and mind feast. Just a sampling of images from the show:

At Wesleyan University's Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, German artist Julika Rudelius will be represented in her third American solo exhibition by three video installations "Adrift," "Forever" and "Your Blood Is As Red As Mine." As with all Rudelius' work, these works starkly and powerfully explore private experience within the public sphere. In addition, by combining documentary and staged events the artist intentionally confuses and reinforces a sense of what is real and what is fiction.Since the early 2000s, her work has addressed subjects ranging from adolescent boys discussing their sexual experiences to politicians introducing their interns to the world of domination and obedience in Washington, DC to businessmen talking about the significance of money.

Julika Rudelius: Projections runs Sat., Jan. 23 through Sun., Feb. 28, 2010. The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Fri., Jan. 22 from 5—7 p.m., with an artist talk at 5:30 p.m.

"Your Blood Is As Red As Mine" (2004, 15:56 min), the earliest work in the show was shot in Amsterdam and consists of a series of staged interviews and situations that focus on skin color and the representation of "the other." How does it feel to be black, dark-skinned, or white? What is light? And what does light do to a photo of a dark face? A white woman, the artist, spends some time in a black community, where she talks to people about the color of their skin, and about the photos that she makes of them.For the synchronized video installation "Forever" (2006,16:40 min), Rudelius cast five American "women of a certain age" for their beauty. Each is posing at an upscale private swimming pool in the Hamptons. Each reflects on her notions of beauty - ways to obtain it and its relationship to privilege.Straddling a fine line, this work succeeds in both evoking and critiquing stereotypes at the same time.

For "Adrift" (2007, 4:50 min), a short single-channel projection, the artist assembled twenty people of varying age and background and seated them inside an anonymous waiting room, where they seem to drift between the waking world of bureaucracy and administration and a childlike state of dreams and vulnerability. The room bobs and sways, knocking the sleepers' heads from side to side. Amidst the gentle tumult of the room, the unconscious sleepers shift about as they try to remain comfortable despite the unusual movement.

Julika Rudelius was born in Cologne, Germany and now divides her time between New York and Amsterdam. After a career in publishing and photography, she studied at the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam where she discovered video. She was a resident in the International Studio and Curatorial Program, NY, 2006 and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Workspace program, 2008. Solo exhibitions include those at the Swiss Institute, NY; Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris; Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam; and the Westfalian Institute of Contemporary Art ,Germany. Her work has also been exhibited at the Tate Modern, Bard Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and MOCA North Miami.

Friday opening at Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) features new work by the prizewinner of the 2009 exhibition Sky's the Limit, juried by Janet Echelman, internationally recognized artist specializing in public art installations and sculpture. Recent work by Jennifer Kaufman (San Francisco, CA) will be on view in the first floor of the CAW Hilles Gallery from Jan. 22 to Feb. 12, 2010, with an opening reception on Fri., Jan. 22 from 5—7 pm. The public is invited to attend; admission to the gallery is free.

This show further explores the visual objectives of Sky's the Limit, which emphasized "the ability of a work to communicate an idea experientially to the viewer," according to Ms. Echelman. Ms. Echelman selected Kaufman from the 21 artists who were included in Sky's the Limit in 2009. More than one hundred artists from across the country submitted over two hundred entries for the show.

The work of Jennifer Kaufman is an exploration of line and mark-making. "With no site of origin or origin in time, a line continues forever," says Kaufman. "The middle of a room, a wall, or a piece of sturdy paper provide me with a good place to encounter a line, engage its impulse towards fragmentation, self-revision and continuity." For this exhibition, she will present a process-based piece that moves between works on paper and site-specific installation, using simple materials including tape, graphite and ink.

The exhibition will also feature installations by two Merit Recognition honorees from Sky's the Limit. Melanie Rose Peterson will transform CAW's elevator from a simple vehicle into an all-encompassing, imaginative experience. Using biodegradable packing peanuts and plastic wrap, she will apply a textured surface to the elevator walls, allowing the viewer to be entirely surrounded by the work for the brief duration of a trip between floors. Rachel Newsam and Vaclav Sipla will present Loom, an installation of wave-like forms mounted on the walls of the second floor of the Hilles Gallery. Inspired by the over-and-under motion of a weaving loom, the undulating forms will transform the space into a soft, biomorphic room, altering the journey the viewer takes through it.

Photo show opening Friday in New Haven

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents Spectra 2010 in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, at 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor. The exhibition will be on display Fri., Jan. 22 through Fri., March 19. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Fri., Jan. 22, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Spectra 2010 is the annual members show of the Photo Arts Collective, an Arts Council program whose mission is to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography, through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and special events.

Ott, who sits on the Photo Arts Collective’s Steering Committee, said Spectra 2010 features “more black and white than color,” and is “light and easy on the eye.”

Penny Cook, who organizes the annual show, said this year’s exhibition is highlighted by a “surprising number of members showing new work,” and, “as a result of the strength of this work, many will have more than one piece represented.”

Open to Arts Council members, the Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of each month at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven.

Thursday opening at Atticus Bookstore Cafe in New Haven

For over 25 years, Philip Rubin has been photographing wall art in urban locations around the world. The photos on display in this exhibit comprise one group of images from a book presently in development called Wall Art that features art that appears in public places, including murals, painted buildings, and a variety of street art.

Philip Rubin was born in Newark, New Jersey. In the 1960s he was a rock guitarist. He received his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Connecticut. In the 1970s he began working at Haskins Laboratories, in New Haven, Connecticut, where he developed software for music and speech synthesis. In the 1980s he was a research scientist and started his administrative career. In the 1990s he was a principal in a multimedia company that developed websites and games.

Rubin's photography has been featured at a number of shows including What You Write? A Graffiti Show at the Small Space Gallery at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven; Philip Rubin: Photographs of Urban Art at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport; and This and That at the City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport.

Friday night opening at Mystic Arts Center

The Mystic Arts Center will host the whimsical illuminated glass creations of Old Saybrook artist Mundy Hepburn in the upcoming sculpture exhibition, Luminosity, from Jan. 15 through Feb. 27.

Hepburn's unconventional work features brightly colored gases swirling within unique large-scale glass sculpture. Each piece provides a moving kaleidoscope of patterns and hues using high frequency static electricity. Unlike most sculpture exhibits, Hepburn's work can be touched. This interaction between art and viewer actually alters the light displayed and makes the exhibition especially fascinating for children

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The Luminosity exhibition will include new works by Hepburn, who explains that he has been "working wildly" since replacing a broken furnace that kept him away from glass work for over a year.

"This is really my inner dream-world," says Hepburn of the exhibition. Hepburn's art grew from mischievous beginnings. When he was eight years old, he began secretly melting light bulbs over the gas stove of his family's kitchen after seeing artist Paul Geyer create glass animals at the Guilford Handcraft Fair. Hepburn's fascination grew with every bulb that bent, bubbled or changed color.

His parents, upon discovering this risky experimentation, actually encouraged his curiosity and allowed him to continue the exploration—now properly supervised. The rest, as they say, is history.The self-proclaimed "mad scientist" has spent decades refining his techniques and craft, incorporating rare gases such as argon, krypton, xenon, helium and neon to create new and imaginative compositions. He has invented new types of glass, transformers, and techniques to create the work he loves.

Hepburn's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Florence Griswold Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art, Habatat Galleries in Pontiac Michigan, Bradley International Airport and dozens of other locations. His creations are permanently installed in a variety of museums and educational centers in Connecticut and across the U.S., including the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, the Greater Hartford Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Science Museum of Connecticut. The Luminosity exhibition runs simultaneously with the Arts Center's annual Members Exhibition and is sponsored by the new luxury downtown residence New London Harbour Towers.

The Opening Reception for the exhibitions will be held on Fri., Jan. 15 from 5:30—7:30 p.m. in partnership with neighboring Courtyard Gallery.This is the fifth annual joint reception showcasing both galleries' annual member shows.Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served and information about New London Harbour Towers will be available at the reception, which is free and open to the public.

Artspace announces six new solo exhibitions for 2010. Beginning Jan. 14, the galleries will be filled sculpture, painting, drawing, and site-specific installations produced by artists from New Haven, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. These exhibitions are on view Jan. 14—Feb. 20, 2010. A public reception with artists' talks will be held on Thursday, Jan. 14, 6—8 p.m. Additional public programming is forthcoming.

Engaging in the ongoing debate about the nature and production of contemporary art within and beyond our geographical borders, Artspace is also participating in the 2010 DeCordova Biennial, organized by the museum's contemporary curator Dina Deitsch.

Located in Lincoln, Massachusetts, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park will showcase the work of seventeen artists from New England, including those of New Haven-based artists and Artspace alums, Christopher Mir (Web) and Phil Lique. The works on view reflect a broad range of current practices ranging from painting to social intervention, and the exhibition is the result of conversations between artists and curators from multiple art venues across New England, including Artspace.

Functioning as both an independent site and alternative space for the Biennial, Artspace will present a solo exhibition of New Haven artist Phil Lique in Gallery 1, whose work reflects the broader themes presented in the show. In his solo exhibition in Gallery 1 at Artspace, Traces of Things That Are Alive and Dead, Phil Lique binds his sculptural and paintings practices together, producing an aggressive body of work that comments on consumption and excess, and the nature of warfare and political apathy.

Notions of failed utopias and environmental and cultural decay are also expressed in the works on view in galleries 2-7. Utilizing geometric forms, hardware, and synthetic materials, Susan Meyer (CO) (Web) creates a sci-fi inspired installation with lurid abstract sculptures in Gallery 2.

Exploring the beauty of decay, New Haven-based painter Anna Daegele (Web) extends her painting surface to lids, tins, and environmental materials such as dirt, lint, and debris from everyday use and activity. Her work will be on view in Gallery 3.Through elegantly cut-paper constructions, Rhode Island-based artist Kim Salerno (Web) will install a series of sculptures in Gallery 4 that mimic sea creatures and other biological forms that border on extinction.

In Gallery 5, Massachusetts-based painter John Judge (Web) presents a series of new drawings that capture voyeuristic, despondent, and curious moments between groups of people inhabiting the same public and private spaces.

Reacting to the gallery's raw and industrial architecture, Pennsylvania-based sculptor Wes Heiss (Web) works with the ventilation system in Gallery 7 to create a new site-specific installation that only becomes fully activated when a viewer enters a space.

(Abadjian's artwork has been previously written about on Connecticut Art Scenehere and here.)These depictions of war-torn buildings and landscapes aim to find new hope, while expressing the atrocity of war. Unforgiving Sharpie lines emerge through layers of paint, mimicking the insistent memories and events of conflict. Abadjian shows personal loss—that of childhood, yet her paintings express the beauty of human resilience, people's ability to become accustomed to war. Uprooted from her home in Shemlan, Lebanon, at age thirteen, due to the Lebanese Civil War, she immigrated to the U.S. along with her family. A visit to Lebanon in 2005 provided further inspiration for these paintings.

Superimposing multiple images allows Abadjian to explore the intricate issues intertwined with war, including lack of control, displacement and various types of loss. The aftermath of war—not its real time violence—draws her to paint images of war-torn buildings and places from her childhood. And due to her experiences, she is deeply affected by political instability in the world, especially that of Lebanon and the Middle East. As an Armenian Lebanese, and naturalized American citizen, her past continues to shape her identity, allowing her to find new hope and express loss that cannot be justified.

In Abadjian's current work, she examines these various forms of hope. One such idea emerged when previously applied text gradually revealed itself through layers of paint. Whether Armenian, Arabic or English, these words—sometimes fragments of her poetry—are strong visual elements. Other objects that surface in her paintings, vary anywhere from the evil eye to the Masbaha, the Muslim equivalent to prayer or worry beads, as well as the Cross, and Stuffed Lamb. As a Christian of Armenian descent, Abadjian's obsession lies not with religion itself, but with the commonality of divine symbols. The similarity of the Masbaha to the Catholic Rosary is ironic. Every religion requires a tool with which to count prayers. Christians use the Rosary, Buddhists the Mala, Muslims the Masbaha, and the Jewish people the prayer shawl or the Tallit.

The evil eye, ubiquitous in Middle Eastern culture, repels evil, offering protection from harm. It exists in jewelry, in decorative household objects, and in mementos. Souvenir Masbahas are often made with these typical blue, evil eye beads. This symbol has become increasingly sacred for Abadjian who finds strength in wearing it. Such a fashionable and universal object has found its way into spirituality, akin to religious symbols that offer refuge and comfort.

Abadjian received her MFA from Hartford Art School at the Univ. of Harford in 2006, and her BA from Central CT State Univ. in 1994. She worked for renowned artist Sol LeWitt, as well as the Troyer Gallery in Washington, D.C. as Assistant Director. Currently she is a Professor of Art and Art History at Paier College of Art and Middlesex Community College in CT. Her paintings have been

exhibited throughout the U.S including New York, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. In 2009, she was awarded the New Boston Fund Individual Artist Fellowship. Her work is included in the Sol LeWitt Collection.

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Also opening Thursday night at the Charter Oak Cultural Center are shows by (Dimensions of Memory) Esam Pasha and Nilofer Haider (Demystifying the Burka). Both exhibits will also run through Feb. 26, 2010.

Meet “Iraq’s art hero,” Esam Pasha. Last fall he was commissioned to paint the first public mural in post-Saddam Iraq, and now he is showing his work here at Charter Oak. Pasha’s exhibit came out of a series of works based on memories of Baghdad. Come, view these artworks and enjoy the visual music they create. Let your eyes enjoy the artwork and let your heart feel inspired.

Nilofer Haider’s exhibit includes photographs taken while the artist was on a trip to her homeland, Pakistan. The 25-image sequence is of young girls without head covering, preteen and teen-aged girls with head covering, burka clad women, and chador clad women.

January shows open Sunday at Silvermine Guild Art Center

Silvermine Guild Arts Center, located in New Canaan, is starting the new year with exciting exhibits featuring works by the new Guild Artist members of 2009, a daytime Emmy Award winner, and a collaborative exhibition that explores the relationship of two artist's diverse works. All are welcomed to the opening reception on Sun., Jan. 10, from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Feb. 19, 2010.

Wilton resident and Silvermine Guild Artist David Dunlop's solo exhibit, A Closer Look, features a selection of his recent oil paintings, showcasing works that explore the artist's interest in interior and exterior spaces, as well as looking at his interest in the visual phenomena of light, motion and reflection. For this Daytime Emmy Award winning artist, painting is about making poetry. As poetry, his paintings offer the sensual experiences through blurred ambiguity and suggestion. In 2008, David developed a series for PBS, Landscapes through Time with David Dunlop for which he received television's 2009 national EMMY award for writing. He has had solo and groups exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally, and his works are included in many private collections.

Complementing David Dunlop, who has been a Guild member since the early 1990's, the New Members Exhibition will showcase the works of nine new Guild Artist members inducted in the spring and fall of 2009, representing a variety of mediums. The new members include: Binnie Birstein (Painting) from Weston, CT."Flying, falling, floating, fitting in or not are the themes expressed in my art. Abstract and figurative, the visual stories are my reflections, reactions to our society...personal to me, while universal at the same time." As an artist, her goal is to create a feeling of dichotomy and tension. A dream-like dissonance with a sense of mystery opens her work to personal interpretation and provokes thought and dialogue.

Chris Durante (Drawing) from West Redding, CT. "I make complex drawings about simple things. String. Sticks. Moments of clarity when things seem to line up and then move, only to line up again. Grids. Accidents and chance. All abstraction comes from somewhere. I make drawings of things I know but have yet to see. I make drawings because that is what I've always done."

New Haven, CT artist Silas Finch (Sculpture); "The simpler the sculpture, the harder it is to create. It takes more craftsmanship to make it look natural. I love the search, to sit and connect individual parts, repositioning each one until they achieve a natural, effortless union. The form, shape, color, and texture it owns, is what brings my ideas to life. I find pure enjoyment in pulling the sculptures right out of the pieces themselves, like they were meant to be there, with just a little bend and twist."

Robert Gregson (Mixed Media, Conceptual Art) is from Orange, CT; "My work tends to be a social activity. It exists in the ambiguous territory between artist and audience. The pieces are invitations that provide permission to be involved.They are less about me and more about us. For me, the act of creation is a balancing act between autonomy and connectedness. Like a performance, I like the idea that the work is never actually completed but continually reinterpreted and refreshed through those who encounter it."

Susan Halls (Ceramics) is a resident of Easthampton, MA; "My obsession with animals and animal imagery has been more or less constant since my childhood so it is right that they should be the dominant subject in my work. In my sculpture I'm trying to create an image which traps a kind of animal truth.Direct representation does not interest me. I strive to create work which reinvents animal form, enhancing the facts without being slavish to mere appearance."

Linda Kuehne (Photography) from Pound Ridge, NY;".... my work explores the idea of the sublime as it does or doesn't exist today, given the state of the world.I am interested in photographing vernacular, mundane objects juxtaposed against interesting backgrounds of a landscape or the city. One can't quite tell what these objects are or where they were taken because I am interested in the suggestive, abstract qualities of the image rather than the literal. When attention is drawn to the ordinary, the ordinary can become a poetic comment on what it means to live in our culture, in our time."

Yen-Hua Lee (Mixed Media) from White Plains, NY; "Walking around the lagoon is a way for me to relax and ponder my art. In my show, the platform functions as a stand to define a territory for my work, with the gallery floor reflecting images like water. A recorded dripping water sound is played as a background evoking a sense of peace and quiet in the viewer's minds. The floor, covered with silica powder in a shape of a square on which some Chinese characters are written, and sculptures placed inside the square, keep a walking space between the platform and the square. Wandering through this "in-between space" one feels as if one were walking on shallow water."

Constance Old (Mixed Media) is from New Canaan, CT; "Having worked in publishing, I became conscious of all the 'free color' available in the world.My art reflects our time and gently comments on the excesses of the American consumer economy. I use the traditional women's craft of rug hooking to make pieces out of three dimensional 'found color,' using in particular obvious symbols of our consumer economy like sales receipts and assorted recycled plastic. Combining the traditional craft technique of rug hooking with contemporary materials, I see my work as both timeless and an index of our time."

Bradley Wollman (Photography) a resident of Pearl River, NY; "Our culture is saturated with visual media, and as we absorb information from all types of outlets, it is important to realize the removal of the viewer from the reality conveyed to them. My large scale color photographs depicting recreations of events from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are meant to act as a catalyst in deconstructing the notion of photography as a documentary medium. Each image represents a fictional truth while the whole of the body of work addresses the conflict between how the war is idealized, how it is in actuality and how it is presented to us in our everyday lives."

The Director's Choice, IN RELATION TO... is a collaborative exhibition bringing together the whimsical found object sculptures of Jody Silver with Arlé Sklar-Weinstein's vibrant fiber-photomontage. In this exhibit, these two Guild Artists demonstrate the exchange of ideas to create a dialogue between materials that inform, challenge and expand each other's working process. For Jody Silver, found objects become the raw material for three dimensional objects which pay homage to their original forms while reorganized into animals, people and the like. Arlé Sklar-Weinstein, on the other hand, uses stitching and the layer images along with quilting techniques to channel the flatness of the surface in her fiber constructions. The climax of this dialogue is reached in a playful installation in which both artists' work physically interacts with each other.

Tom Peterson's documentary photographs feature urban cityscapes with an emphasis on architectural structure and strong lighting. The photographs in this exhibit are mostly taken in New Haven and Hartford. Tom's images function as documents from his weekly walking tours and provide an abstract view of everyday structures we often pass by, but rarely notice. Mr. Peterson sees his photographs as a bridge for future generations to view our present everyday culture and surroundings. All the photographs are framed, archival inkjet prints.